learn with Bird
Bird's Teaching Background
I am an artist, curator, and educator who prioritizes caretaking and connection. My work explores the throughlines between history and ecological crises, engaging with communities, scientists, and site-specific materials to investigate land memory, systems of complicity, and possibilities for emergence.
I have been teaching since I was 14, starting with swimming and flute lessons! More formally since graduating in 2009, I've served as middle school teacher, instructional coach, principal of a turnaround school in New Orleans, and director of social studies, supporting school leaders across the South to implement equitable learning practices and anti-racist history education. Currently, I'm teaching undergraduate studio art at Georgia State University and doing freelance consultanting for organizations across the U.S, specializing in adult learning, equity, and organizational systems. I received my B.S. in art history from Skidmore College and master’s degree in education leadership from Columbia University.
As an artist, I've led many learning experiences across the country on a range of topics, from hands-on skill-building to analytical art theory. A few of my recent facilitations have included:
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Grateful Gathering: Foraging for Wild Ink Materials on the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail (with Maria Soto), Atlanta, GA June 2024
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The Way of Water: Exploring Local Ecosystems (with Renee Royale), Virtual Workshop, April 2024
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Creative Visioning In Community: Authentically Expanding Your Support Network, Emory University and North carolina, 2023
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Working With Site-Specific Earth Pigments, New York City, Rhode Island, New Oeleans, North Carolina, and virtual, 2023
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Finding Grounding: Nature Connection + Art Learning Experience (with Lilia Kapsali Grant), Baton Rouge, LA, Fall 2023
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Atlanta Land Memory Project: Exploring Personal, Scientific, and Historical Layers of Place, Atlanta, GA, Spring 2023
Teaching Philosophy
Excellent teaching can be a form of social practice; it aims to create experiences that shift people’s perspectives. Through my work as an artist and educator, I'm interested in exploring how we can use creative processes to interrogate issues of inequity and imagine alternative ways of being through education and relationships.
Ultimately, teaching is based on relational accountability. Through a balance of challenge, support, and trust, education can be transformative, liberating, and expansive.